Cut Copy on Sensual Visuals and Bringing You the Music of Melbourne

Cut Copy has found plenty of success in Colorado. The Australian electronic band, which formed in Australia in 2001, fit right in with the burgeoning scene here in the genre. After sharing a co-headlining bill with Chromeo at a sold-out Red Rocks earlier this year, Cut Copy returns for a show at the Ogden Theatre tomorrow night. We talked to bassist Tim Hoey beforehand about the new visual show and releasing music on vinyl.

Mary Willson:What has it been like being in the electronic scene as it has changed so dramatically in the last five-ish years?

Tim Hoey: Yeah, we can almost be considered veterans now....actually, I think I read that on a description of us on some festival bill. Initially, it was quite depressing to read and made us all feel old. But then, the more i thought about it, the prouder I got in the fact that we've been able to have longevity.

Bands appear and disappear in the blink of an eye, but we've managed to stick around. The main thing is that we still feel like we have something to contribute. I don't really relate us specifically to the electronic scene. When we first started, we played with both electronic and more traditional rock bands. I think we fit somewhere in-between both genres. In fact, it's not that uncommon for artists these days to fit somewhere between two and ten genres. We really enjoy playing and listening to younger artists coming up. It keeps you on your toes and inspired to keep creating something new, or play a little harder and faster at shows.

Your first album was released on vinyl only. Have you released anything recently on only vinyl?

Yeah, I think the very first Cut Copy track ["1981"] was released on seven-inch vinyl only. It featured the guitar stylings of Harry Howard and was recorded and released before I even knew Dan. The record store day twelve-inch we released this year was supposed to be vinyl only, but then modular but both of those tracks on the deluxe edition of the record...I think there are remixes of certain tracks that were vinyl only? I'd have to check discogs or something, though.

What are your shows like? Do you try to do them differently like you do with other parts of your music?

The visual aspect of our show is very important and considered. It's an essential part to our live show. We used a lot of projections for this current show. The idea was to heighten the sensual experience for people.

The visuals hold references to themes of records past and present. Basically we just want the shows to be one big party. We want it to be a very inclusive and euphoric experience.

Yeah! We're about to release a compilation of current Melbourne produces called Oceans Apart. We often get asked about the scene in Australia and Melbourne in particular. Rather than talk about it in interviews we thought, "Why don't we just release this music ourselves?" Its been a labour of love project. We're really excited to hopefully spread the word of upcoming Melbourne artists to the world.

What are you excited about to check out in Denver?

We've spent a lot of time in Denver, actually. Our shows have always been great there. There are some vegetarians in the band so we always hit that Watercourse Foods joint. Theres some great record stores there too. We'll hit them.

Mary Willson started contributing to Westword as an intern in the summer of 2014. Since then, she's mostly covered music news, focusing on the electronic music scene in Colorado. She is currently a student at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, where she studies communications and sociology.